How to Run
by XxWanderlustxX
Summary: The Doctor left Messaline and Jenny has a whole story ahead of her, so let's see what might have happened, shall we? 2 mysterious travelers, a parallel dimension, intergalactic war, evil clones, hot popsicle men, 14-year-olds from Cardiff, etc. etc...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

I don't own Doctor Who

End of Disclaimer.

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Chapter 1: Beginner's Luck

Jenny's wide grin, which had been there in the six hours since she flew the shuttle off Messaline, grew wider as she caught sight of her first planet. It didn't matter that her jaw was starting to ache from grinning so much, or that the shuttle was almost out of fuel and she didn't know if she could make it to the planet before she ran out, or even that she had no idea if the inhabitants had eggs for heads or not.

She was almost there, only a few hundred thousand miles away from her first adventure. And she was so excited she would've started jumping up and down by now if that didn't risk veering off her course and into an asteroid belt. She laughed out loud, that sounded like fun too.

When she finally got within range of the planet, her fuel gauge was blinking in rather distracting yellow caution lights, and she was so giddy with excitement she wanted to dance, however, that didn't stop the rational part of her time lord brain from telling her that she had no idea if this planet was hostile or not, or if she should announce her presence to the locals, or if…

Jenny shut that part of her brain out while it continued ticking off reasons why just 'dropping in' was a very bad idea, her dad wouldn't have worried so much… maybe… she didn't really know, but if his appearance on Messaline was anything to go by, she was doing just fine.

And so far, no one had attacked her as she landed her shuttle at the flat, white formation she found on this new planet, she hoped this wasn't someone's house or something, that would be embarrassing… Shutting down the engine, Jenny jumped up from her seat enthusiastically, her first planet, did it have life? Were they evolved? What did they look like? Her mind buzzing with questions, the blonde time lady loosed her hair, hesitated and put her gun back in it's cupboard, before she opened the shuttle's door and faced this new world, a broad grin on her face,

What she saw outside stopped her short.

The sky was a lush, verdant green, shining with a bright blue sun and golden clouds, the trees, luminous and milk-white, were twisted and their branches curled around like springs till they ended in thousands of glowing orbs that might have been leaves. Jenny had never seen anything like it on Messaline, it was amazing…

What would her dad have said? She wondered, would he have thought it was as beautiful and wonderful as she did, or would he smile and whisk her off to see something even better?

What was earth like? Was it anything like this? Was it better?

Jenny didn't know, but she hoped that someday she would find out.

That was when she noticed them.

There were at least thirty of them, wearing clothes made of fur woven together, they looked like a cross between some sort of insect and humans, some of them were blue, some green, some gray, and several were very small and were yellow, all were speckled. All staring at her from a safe distance as she emerged from her ship.

_How… Alien_, she thought immediately, and then laughed at herself, the locals watched her transfixed. Who was this strange creature that came from the sky in the fearsome beast? What was that sound it made? Was it attempting to talk to them? They crowded together and debated over the matter.

Jenny watched them, smiling politely, and hoped that all that chattering the locals were making didn't mean she was going to be eaten or something equally unpleasant; she couldn't understand a word they were saying and berated herself for not thinking about this particular detail when she left. True, she knew about a dozen languages which were pre-programmed into her by the progenation machine, but apparently, this planet's wasn't one of them. She wondered what species they were, although from the looks of it, the civilization was only just starting out…

She was jolted out of her thoughts when the group suddenly prostrated themselves before her and started chanting the same thing again and again.

"Chan, shatha dan ku sah ta, tho" they chanted bowing to her. "Chan, shatha dan ku sah ta, tho"

"Shit, they must think I'm some sort of god or something" she muttered, eyes wide. The locals glanced at each other when they heard her speak.

"Chan, Shit, tho" repeated one of them reverently, and to her horror, the entire group then erupted into a chorus of 'Chan, Shit, tho's.

They continued to worship her, muttering the swear word every now and then, but she noticed several of them left the group and headed away, Jenny frowned, wondering if that was good or bad.

She found out a few minutes later when another group arrived, these were carrying some sort of chair woven out of leaves and flowers and several of them helped her up so she could sit on it, she was then offered flowers and shiny rocks, which she accepted politely while the locals chattered and stared at her reverently.

They carried her into their town… or city… or conglomeration, and paraded her on the streets while the other insectoids –for lack of a name, she called them that– watched her from their houses, chattering to each other, Jenny waved at them and they jumped up and down excitedly and copied the action. Jenny smiled, she was beginning to enjoy herself, _Not bad for my first planet,_ she thought, watching as hundreds of insectoids stared up at her and worshipped.

They brought her into a cave at the other end of the city which had been decorated with flowers, leaves and more shiny rocks, and put her down there, after which, the locals presented her with more tokens and offerings and copied everything she said and did, and when Jenny yawned, tired, and slumped on her flowery seat, the locals looked at her, puzzled, until one of them realized that their god must be tired and they all respectfully bowed themselves away.

Jenny stretched on her seat, took a bite of the glowing, yellow, gourd-shaped fruit that had been offered to her a while ago, and blanched at the sweetness, for some reason, it seemed every single fruit in this planet was unbearably sweet, not that she was complaining, but they hadn't given her any water and she wondered if they just didn't drink water or if they simply forgot.

She stood up, today had been fun, but now it was time to do what her dad did best. Run. Jenny liked being goddess and getting worshipped, but she couldn't stay here anymore, there was an entire universe out there just waiting for her to get up and explore. So with an armful of glowing fruits, and her handy, super soldier, time lady skills, Jenny slipped away and into the bluish-black night.

She ran for a while, not for any particular reason other than to see if she could, she ran and ran, she ran over golden grasses and past glowing leaves on the milk-white trees, leaving boot marks on the red soil and passing a strange creature with six eyes, she ran, not thinking, just relishing the feeling of the wind in her face, her golden hair flaring out like a halo behind her.

Jenny decided she liked running.

By the time she reached her shuttle, her adrenaline rush had disappeared and she realized her biggest dilemma, she was out of fuel… well, not really, but she didn't have enough to even get out of the planet's atmosphere, in other words, she was stuck until someone found her… or until she found a way to synthesize shuttle fuel from fruit juices.

Sighing, she locked the door behind her and draped a blanket over the driver's seat, the shuttle didn't have a bunk and she'd probably be more comfortable in the cave they gave her, but she was fine with this arrangement, it made her feel better than sleeping in an open area without any weapons to defend herself with if something happened. There might not be a war, but she was still a soldier, there was some caution –little though it was– programmed into her psyche.

She picked out a shimmering violet fruit that was a little less sweet than the rest of them and had it for dinner, along with the glass of water she had been missing all day long, and proceeded to go to sleep, hoping she'd figure something out tomorrow.

She didn't have to wait that long.

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Ooohh... Can you guess where she landed? Can you? Can You? Okay, Maybe you can...

Up Next:

"So… the left wing is scrap metal, power grid is fried –we're running on back-up power cause that's the only line that hasn't been damaged when we hit the Rue'enian's delta wave, windshield is… well, you can guess, third and fourth engines are busted, we've got three different holes, one in the corridor, one in the right wing and another in the engine room, and the metal's peeled off of the roof." She sighed.

"So basically, were stuck" Koryuu summed up.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to all that have reviewed, I got three and am drooling with happiness!! :-[}

Mackon: I'm working on covering up the 'Chan-tho' thing... maybe next chapter?

Novacancymind and BellsAndRoses: Thanks so much, your reviews are well appreciated, I hope you like this Chapter too.

And I'm so so sorry for my erratic updating, I had already written until Chapter 10 when I stopped, reread my work, and realized that it had turned out crappy... so I'm pretty much rewriting the whole thing. So so sorry...

Anyway, my former 'up next' is being bumped down a few chapters, so it is pretty much null until at least Chapter 5... so just think of it as a spoiler for future chapters.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

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Chapter 2: The Traders

It was almost midnight when Jenny was jolted awake by the sudden appearance of a very bright light and horribly loud noises.

Disoriented, the blonde twisted around to see what was going on and tried to get away from it at the same time. A move, she realized, that was not particularly smart, as all she ended up doing was falling off her makeshift bed and landing on her rear in the shuttle's floor. She winced and slowly got on her knees, peering outside at whatever was causing the commotion. Her eyes widened.

It was a spaceship.

And it was lit up with at least three searchlights flashing different colors while it played the most horrible attempt at music that Jenny had ever heard, not that she had heard much, but all that noise, banging and banshee-screaming was making her ears bleed. She winced again.

Talk about loud neighbors.

But, still, at least they _were_ neighbors, she got up and went out of her shuttle, they didn't seem too violent so she just _might_ be able to ask for help about her fuel problem, and maybe they just _might_ be nice enough to help her out.

After a surge of optimism that lasted only very briefly, Jenny trudged down the hill and towards the newcomers. Not running. Definitely not running.

Jenny did _not_ like her new neighbors.

They were rowdy. They were drunk. They were male. And they were blue.

Not that she had anything against blue people; she just… realized a particular dislike for rowdy, male drunkards, with four arms and too many muscles. Who also happened to be blue. She hesitated, watching them from behind a glowing tree. Maybe she could just steal some fuel from them? The thought was a ton more appealing than actually talking to them. But what would her dad have said?

Probably talk, she realized, slumping on the tree. She wanted her dad to be proud of her, one day, when she found him and told him all about this trip.

She sighed as she finally made up her mind. She'd talk to them first. She just had to think of this as another adventure, right?

Re-energized… sort-of… Jenny grinned wide as she stepped towards the drunken aliens, who didn't seem to have noticed her at all as she marched into their midst. Pre-occupied as they were with partying, and Jenny wondered who she should talk to for help. If there was anyone actually _sober_ enough to talk to…

Seeing that that particular level of soberness was missing in this group, the blonde then decided to see if there was anyone that could help her inside the ship, and since no one seemed to mind –or they were just too drunk to notice– Jenny stepped inside unhindered. One of the aliens watched her and turned to his friend.

"Say, Bop, shouldn't we stop her?" he asked.

"Stop woo?" slurred his friend.

"That human chick, she went in the ship" he answered.

"Ye'v been havin' too mush ter drink –hic– yer seein' thins, Bert, layoof the booze –hic" and with that, his friend collapsed in a snoring heap.

"I'm Wigiam" he corrected.

"Whatevur… Bert…"

Inside the ship, Jenny was lost.

Or rather, she somehow managed to get herself in the restroom, and had no idea how she got there. Frowning, the blonde turned to the mirror and automatically felt the urge to fix her hair, she did so and when she was satisfied turned around and went outside. Only to crash straight into one of the blue aliens, sending both of them tumbling into an ungainly heap. The time lady heard the alien give a strangled yelp underneath her and moved her leg so it wasn't crushing his throat.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" she asked, she noticed he was skinny, unlike the heavily-muscled drunkards outside. The alien just looked at her in shock, he opened and closed his mouth for a while before he stopped at open.

"You!" he finally blurted out.

"Me?" asked Jenny, confused.

"Shathi Kiesma, Jenny! What are you doing here?"

Now it was Jenny's turn to stare in shock. All thoughts of fuel evaporating from her head.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"You don't remember me?"

"No. Sorry, I've never met you in my life"

"You're kidding, it's me, Rocan, you saved our city, remember?"

Jenny just looked at him blankly. Comprehension suddenly dawned on Rocan's face.

"Oh, I get, did Jet put you up to this? Because it's seriously not funny… where are they?"

"Who?"

"Jet and Koryuu… Ross? Daine?" he looked at her impatiently. "The people you travel with?"

"I'm not traveling with anyone and I've never met anyone named Jet, Koryuu, Daine or Ross"

Rocan stared at her, dumbstruck.

"Shathi Kiesma, You seriously don't remember?"

"There's nothing to remember, I just left my home planet."

For a moment there was silence.

"'I'll see you in Malcassairo,' now it makes sense…" he muttered.

"What?"

"It's the timeline! No wonder you seemed to know me when we first met, well for me it was when we first met but that was probably the second time for you 'cause the first time you met me was the second time I met you, and you haven't met Jet and the others yet! Shathi Kiesma, what if I messed up your timeline? You know your future! Oh Shathi, I'm in trouble…"

Jenny watched blankly as Rocan dissolved into a muttering pile in front of her, she didn't really understand most of what he was saying, but apparently, he knew her future.

"And my future?" asked Jenny, "What's it like?"

"I can't tell you that, what if it messes up your future?" replied Rocan, looking up at her, which proved to be a very big mistake on his part, because just then, Jenny's eyes suddenly got all big and watery.

"No… No, I'm not falling for that…" he declared, he could not, unfortunately, look away.

Her lip quivered, and Rocan almost lost. Jenny was much too strong an enemy for him to confront anyway, even at the primitive stages of her patented kicked-puppy face.

He was, however, saved by a sudden, loud, bellowing from behind him. "Rocan! What happened to those parfites? People are waiting, boy!"

The sound jolted Rocan back to reality and he pushed Jenny into the restroom, and just in time, because the cook had just appeared around the corner.

"Up off your ass, you lazy waerek! We've got a party to serve, _where_ are those parfites?"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry… I'll get them now"

And with an apologetic glance at where Jenny was peering at him from behind the door, the blue alien turned around and left. Jenny waited until the cook had left before she ran after Rocan. He refused to look at her.

"What are parfites?" asked Jenny, "and what's a waerek?"

"A parfite is a condiment… for drinks, we have them in cold storage, and a waerek is… well generally, it's an insult"

"Oh" They walked in silence until Jenny thought of another question. "What race are you?"

"Bocc"

"Bocc, okay…" She was just about to ask another question when Rocan suddenly pushed her into an open door, Jenny peered outside and saw Rocan greet a group of drunken Bocc, they ignored him and went on their way. She joined him again when they left.

"Why do you keep hiding me whenever someone passes by?"

"You honestly don't know what you've gotten yourself into, have you?"

Jenny looked at him curiously. "What?"

"We're Bocc, Jenny, we're known around the universe for trading. Slave trading."

"What?!"

"Why do you think we're here?"

"I don't know, to party?"

"They're are celebrating early, these... what are they called? Malmooth, are absolutely defenseless easy acquisition, high profit, and you, Shathi Kiesma, if they find you here, they'll capture you and sell you off to some… some… big-shot with a Human fetish"

"But I'm not a Human"

"You look like one, that's good enough, and besides, Humans are pricey, a lone one wandering around in a Bocc ship is the best stroke of good luck any of these people could think of. Wait, you're not Human?!"

"No, I'm a Time lady"

"Ugh, that's worse" groaned the Rocan "You're an extinct species…"

They finally reached cold storage and the computer opened the door for them, Rocan stepped inside, closely followed by Jenny.

"Shouldn't we warn them?"

"Why, are the locals dangerous?"

"No, not the Bocc, the locals, if they're about to be enslaved, we should warn them!"

Rocan looked at her strangely.

"Jenny, if you warn them, then we wouldn't be able to capture anyone."

"You warned me!"

"You're different!"

"Really, what makes me so different from them? If you hadn't warned me, I'd be in as much trouble as they are in now, Rocan, we have to help them!"

"Jenny, I'm one of the Bocc"

"That doesn't mean you can't be better"

"This is my life, Jenny, this is what I've been thought to do since I was a child, 'be a trader, Rocan, it's the only way to go', and it is…"

"And where exactly has this 'way' gotten you?"

"I'll get my chance, if I'm patient enough"

"Get your chance to what? Round up helpless aliens and sell them in some unknown planet, tear them away from their families? Is that really what you want to do, Rocan?!"

Rocan looked away guiltily.

"I've got to get these parfites to the cook…" he muttered, holding up a bag of what looked like small, violet eyeballs. Jenny remained silent, but she followed him when he left cold storage. Glaring.

Rocan sighed, exasperated, Jenny was like this too, when he first met her, challenging the rules and sending people's carefully constructed norms crashing down around them, couldn't she just 'go with the flow' for once? But, he supposed, if she did, then she wouldn't be much like the Jenny he knew.

Speaking of the Jenny he knew, where was she? The blue alien glanced around in panic, which only got worse when he spotted her clambering up on a table outside… in the middle of the party.

"She's crazy!" he exclaimed, before dropping the parfites and tackling the blonde to the ground, luckily, no one seemed to have noticed.

"Have you gone _mad_?!" he hissed, dragging her under the table, "Didn't you hear a single word I said? You can't let the Bocc know you're here!"

"Help me save them"

"I can't, Jenny! Don't you understand? I _can't_… I'm neither strong, nor smart, nor _anything_… I don't have a future without this, Jenny!"

"And they don't have a future _with_ this, Rocan!"

"Jenny…"

"Look, you can stay here if you want, get that _future_ you want so much"–Rocan winced at the venom in her voice–"but I'm not going to stand here and watch them lose theirs! I'm gonna save them, no matter what it takes!"

And with that, Jenny slipped away and into the glowing forest.

Rocan just watched her go… and wondered.

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...Constructive criticism is very much welcome, too


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Alright, I'm sorry, I haven't updated for weeks, I should be broiled alive, yeah. And now I'm gonna rant about my life so if you don't wanna hear it, just skip to the story.

I'll start with this one: THERE IS NO INTERNET.

I seriously feel like I'm living in some backwater planet far, far away from civilization, and I'm poor. Seriously. I'm poverty-stricken. I get 50 php a day as my allowance, and that's about... one US dollar? Darn. The only thing i have resembling gadgetry is a laptop without internet (the wifi here in my tiny backwater planet SUCKS), so I couldn't get this chapter uploaded for weeks and weeks, my celfone keeps getting stuck, we're about to have our semi-finals in a day,my class president wants me to write a script for a play this saturday, and, oh, I'm drawing a comicbook which I haven't quite figured out the story of yet. whew.

And I hate my president, she bosses me around all the time, borrows my things without actually stopping to hear if I LET her borrow them, did not return one of my pens (and still hasn't returned it after I asked her about it for the THIRD time) and generally acts like she owns my stuff. Which she doesn't. And my friends like her. I seriously don't see the appeal.

BUT I finally figured out the horizontal ruler-thingy. HAPPY!

* * *

Chapter 3: Lunaflora

Jenny was still fuming and still trudging through the glowing forest when she realized that she didn't have a clue where she was. From the city to her ship had been easy, she just had to go straight… But now, within a forest, where she couldn't tell the difference between one tree and another and with hardly a view of the almost-dawn sky, she realized that she had gotten herself rather lost.

Rather, quite, hopelessly lost.

The Time lady sighed and sat on another white formation that she had come to assume was a rock. And wondered how to get out of this one, she had to warn the Malmooth before the Bocc got to them, and getting lost was putting a large crimp on her already iffy plans. Because even if she could get to them in time, how would she warn them? She couldn't understand a word they were saying.

Nevertheless, they had been so nice to her. They didn't deserve to be sold into slavery before they could even form a proper civilization, the species had so much potential… and Jenny would _not_ let that go to waste… even if she had to challenge the Bocc herself to save them.

Re-energized and ready to save this world, Jenny stood up, and picked a direction that would get her to the city.

Hopefully.

* * *

She was thirsty.

The Time lady wiped sweat off of her forehead as she trekked through the dense, untouched forest, she must have been in there for hours already because the blue sun was already directly overhead. But wherever Jenny looked, she was greeted with the same scene.

Miles and miles of glowing trees. Nothing but glowing trees.

She was lost, she was thirsty, it was sweltering hot, and the too-sweet fruits that she picked off the trees did nothing to help her parched throat. All of these, she knew… which was probably why she was hallucinating already. Seeing things that weren't there.

Because there was no way that that little girl in that white dress, holding a jug of water, and waving at her to come over, could possibly be real. But Jenny was already half-out of her mind with exhaustion, so right then, she didn't really care if the girl was real or not… she followed.

The girl giggled and ran deeper into the forest, Jenny ran after her.

It was harder than she thought; the girl crawled in and out of undergrowth and weaved through luminous trees and shining vines, but Jenny followed… finally, she reached the edge of the forest and the Time lady laughed in relief, tripping her fatigued way to the wall of light that was the outside.

Relieved that she had finally gotten through, Jenny stepped into the light…

…and collapsed, exhausted, into the field of shining, snow-white flowers. The girl knelt down beside the limp blonde and weaved flowers in her hair.

"They're so pretty, aren't they, miss?" she whispered, stroking Jenny's golden hair and bending down until her lips were almost at level with the Time lady's ear "They say, lunaflora are the most beautiful flowers in the universe, and here you are in a whole field of them… you'll make them so much more beautiful, you know…"

She smiled sweetly, the last thing Jenny saw before she fell into unconsciousness.

"…it's the best way to die…"

* * *

Rocan was guilty.

That was the only thing he could think this was. The Bocc had partied well into the morning, so Rocan was sure they wouldn't be up until late afternoon. _He_ shouldn't have been up until late afternoon, but for some odd reason, he couldn't get himself to sleep.

He kept thinking about Jenny.

Was she right? Was everything he had been taught wrong? How could he have been such an idiot not to stop her when she ran into the forest?

Anyone that knew Jenny, well, future Jenny –that was in his past… knew that she had the worst sense of direction possible. She always seemed to head straight into the direction of trouble. No exemptions. He had almost no doubt by now that she had found her way to some sort of forest danger, just lurking in the shadows.

Why did he let her go?!

Rocan turned uncomfortably in his bed. If anything bad happened to Jenny…

Ugh. That was it. The Bocc sat up on his bed and threw his shirt on.

He had to find Jenny.

* * *

Chantho Kothanter Wann knew that he would probably be in trouble for straying so far from the hunting party, but he couldn't go back, at least, not until he bagged an aso or something equally prize worthy…

Something that would show that bastard, Chantho Yadek, that Koth wasn't a child anymore, even if he hadn't shed his child-skin yet.

He scratched at a small patch of speckled yellow skin –he only had a few left and was mostly green– once he shed those, the elders would accept him as one of them, Koth couldn't wait for that.

He scratched the patch harder, hoping it would peel off but it remained stubbornly attached to his arm and the young Malmooth sighed. Everyone teased him because child-skin took so long shedding. Yadek's had disappeared completely after three days, and he knew his father's had taken only half that time. He got this from his mom. She told him she took an entire season shedding.

Koth pouted a bit, he didn't want to take an entire season to shed.

But if he could take down an aso, that wouldn't matter. Only the elders could do that, and if he did… he could just imagine the dumbstruck expression on Yadek's face.

Koth grinned while he inspected the broken twigs and snapped vines; it looked like something had passed through here in a hurry. Maybe he'd get lucky?

The Malmooth followed the trail, which was easy since whatever had passed left a clear path in its wake.

He'd definitely show them.

* * *

_It smells wonderful_.

Jenny opened her eyes a crack, which was the most she could do it seemed, and tried to find the source of the smell. She was greeted by hundreds of clusters of shimmering white flowers.

_So pretty…_ She thought, and tried to reach out a hand to pick one, except her hand wouldn't move. She frowned and attempted to reach out again. Her hand twitched in response.

"You're awake"

Jenny tried to turn her head to look at the speaker, she couldn't. But she did hear footsteps coming closer. She tried to talk but her tongue wouldn't move either. Her whole body felt numb.

"You're paralyzed" announced the voice. "That's what you get for running headlong into those Hyanth vines, I'm surprised though, it would've been deadly to anyone else"

Jenny felt the speaker sit down beside her; a hand came within her line of vision, picked a flower and put it in her hand.

"They're so pretty, and they smell so good… don't they?" A pause, a fingernail traced an imaginary design on Jenny's wrist. "But this is nothing compared to what they look like in the sunset… they soak up all the colors and they shine, just like the sun. Wouldn't you like to see that?"

The hand held the side of her face and moved it so she was looking at the speaker. It was the little girl.

"Maybe you will…" whispered the girl, placing more flowers in Jenny's hair and several on the Time lady's clothes. "Maybe I'll let you…"

Jenny felt control slowly coming back, too slowly. She attempted to talk.

"W-wh-o?"

"Who am I?" Jenny tried to nod, she managed to make her face twitch a bit. "They call me Anthea"

"H-h-hum-"

"Human? No, I only look like this because you think I do"

Then she bent closer and whispered in Jenny's ear. "I wouldn't recommend trying to see what I _really_ look like, though…"

And with that, she laughed gaily and left, Jenny was now stuck staring at the sky. Wondering if she was in danger or not.

Koth had been following the erratic trail for about an hour now when he came across its tracks, and realized that whatever he had been hunting was not something any of them had ever encountered before.

He studied the small, curvy depression with a frown, a small section, a little less than half of the oval, was pressed in slightly deeper than the other part and Koth did not know what to make of it. He had never seen tracks like it before, and the more he looked, the more puzzled he became with it. He should probably go back and tell the rest of the hunting party… but Yadek's smug face drifted through his mind and the young Malmooth decided to see what this was for himself.

So off trudged Chantho Kothanter Wann, determined as ever to prove that he was no longer a child.

His confidence never wavered, well, at least not until he came to a clump of Hyanth vines.

His eyes widened in shock as he saw the poisonous green sap of the plant was everywhere, something had crashed straight into the Hyanth vines, something that didn't seem to be affected by it, because anything else would have been dead body close by.

Slightly nervous, the Malmooth skirted around the area, careful not to touch the sap lest he get poisoned as well, and wondered just what he was hunting. A lobo howled somewhere behind him and Koth jumped.

Stories about the forest seemed to suddenly flood the young Malmooth's mind, and he glanced about nervously. He should really go back home, his mother and father would've been searching for him by now…

Koth froze when he heard the bushes rustle behind him; slowly he turned around… and was greeted by the sight of the most horrifying creature he had ever seen… it was blue, about a foot taller than him, with grass growing out of its head and four long arms… it stepped forward and Koth screamed his lungs out and ran for his life.

Rocan ran a hand through his nape-length green hair in frustration while he ran after the Malmooth he had found, he was hoping it wouldn't be like this, but apparently, he was scary to it.

"Wait!" he shouted again, but was ignored.

* * *

Jenny woke up to find that it was already afternoon; and gasped as she saw the flowers glowing with a soft golden light.

Anthea was right; they were beautiful in the afternoon. Slowly, Jenny stood up, wincing when she felt the scratches and bruises from running through the forest. She hadn't noticed them when the poison was still in effect, but now, they were _painful_.

She looked around for the little girl, and stopped short, amazed, at the sight of miles and miles of glowing, golden flowers.

"They're so pretty in the afternoon…" Jenny turned around to find Anthea standing behind her, scrutinizing the bouquet of flowers in her hand. "That's why you have to die, for them"

Jenny swallowed; her throat was parched dry from thirst but she ignored it. "Why do they need me to die?"

"The lunaflora don't need you to die, they need me to live and take care of them… and in order for that to happen, I have to kill you, I don't have a choice"

"You always have a choice"

"No, _you_ have a choice. I'm giving you one." Anthea looked up at Jenny. "Will, you die for them, or will I kill you for them?"

* * *

Yaay! Chapter 3 is POSTEEEDD!! Reviews are much much liked.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi! I know, I know, It's been ages... I ran out of creative juice somewhere along the line and... well, anyway, enjoy

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Chapter 4: The Shining Sun

"That's not much of a choice, you know"

"I was placed here to take care of them, Lunaflora don't just grow anywhere… if I left, they would all just die out. That's why I have to take your life force, so I can stay with them, so that they'll live, I let _you_ live so you could see this, so you could understand" golden eyes widened at Jenny innocently. "Will you save them, Jenny? Will you let them live?"

Jenny swallowed, Anthea was looking at her expectantly and, truthfully, Jenny had no idea what to say. How could she be expected to give her life on a whim? Even if it was for the preservation of something so beautiful?

There was so much she wanted to do, to see, she hadn't even found her father yet. And now she was being asked to die?

She couldn't.

The moment she thought that, she felt so selfish.

But what would her father have said? Now, more than ever, she wanted to see him, to ask him what she would do.

Because, truthfully, how can someone be asked to die? This was not the soldier's death she had been through on Messaline; this was not the death she risked by saving the Malmooth. In this death there was no glory, no tales told, no one would know, no one would even remember.

In this death there would be nothing. Nothing but the preservation of beauty.

Could she die for that?

* * *

Koth tripped on a root and tumbled face-first into a luminous shrub, the monster was immediately upon him and the young Malmooth recoiled in horror as a blue hand grabbed his arm. It was still speaking in that unintelligible language; and Koth struggled violently to get away. Another hand held his other arm.

"Shathi Kiesma, sit still for a second, will you?" It growled.

Suddenly, it pulled out a small black _thing_ from its pocket and aimed it at the Malmooth's forehead, the boy struggled even more violently and the blue thing hissed something at him in a dangerous voice. He stilled a bit, watching the black thing warily.

There was a click and the blue thing put it away.

"There. Can you understand me?" asked Rocan.

"Chan, you can speak, tho?" asked Koth, wide-eyed, ignoring how rude the stranger's speech was.

"Yes, I just wanted to ask you something, that trail you've been following, it belongs to my friend… I was hoping you could help me find her"

Koth just stared at him blankly. Rocan shook the pocket translator, wondering if it had run out of batteries or something.

"Chan, what sort of beast are you, tho?" asked the Malmooth.

"I'm –I'm a Bocc, but that's not important right now, can you help me find my friend?"

"Chan, of course, tho"

"Really? That's great!" exclaimed Rocan, smiling gratefully and Koth realized that this strange being might not be so frightening after all.

"Chan, My name is Chanto Kothanter Wann, Koth for short, tho"

"I'm Rocan Sarradeira, pleased to meet you, Koth"

And with that the Bocc and the Malmooth shook hands amiably before trudging off to find the last Time lady.

* * *

"Lunaflora used to grow everywhere, all habitable planets were home to them, but as each planet developed they warred with each other, became polluted… they destroyed these flowers until there was none left, none but a single seed, saved from the ruins of Cerradell.

"I saved that seed, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and searched for a planet to place it in, somewhere quiet, somewhere peaceful, somewhere safe… I tried so many planets, Talia, Sethatine, Earth, but the result was always the same. The planet's inhabitants would develop, they'd learn so many destructive ways to advance themselves, did you know that even now I can still hear their planets crying? They would destroy everything I worked so hard to preserve.

I traveled everywhere, trying to find that place, and now I have, here, in Malcassairo. It's safe here… But there is one problem; my life is at an end.

I can take your life, Jenny, but it won't last as long as if you just give it to me, willingly."

Jenny was silent for a while, and when she answered, she refused to look at Anthea.

"Won't this planet develop anyway? You'll just have to move again, what if you run out of planets to move into? What happens then?" she asked half-heartedly.

"This planet won't develop. Not if its inhabitants are taken"

At that, Jenny looked up at Anthea in shock. "You know about the Bocc?"

Anthea nodded. "I've heard the trees whisper of a slave ship that came into the planet. If they take away the people, this planet will never develop; it will be safer for us"

"You can't let that happen!"

The girl looked at her blankly. "You care for them? You would save them? Protect them with your life?"

"Yes, of course! These people have just begun; I can't let them become slaves!"

"But these people you protect would destroy what I've worked so hard to save. I would save these flowers; I would protect them with my life, they are, to me, what the Malmooth are to you. I cannot bear to see them destroyed."

They lapsed into silence. Jenny looked down at her feet, the glowing, golden flowers had now started taking up the colors of the sunset, making them even more beautiful.

"Anthea, I can save your flowers if I give you my life, right?" asked Jenny.

"Yes" answered Anthea.

"Then, I'll give you my life" announced the Time lady, eyes burning with determination. "But you must promise to save the Malmooth"

* * *

Anthea had expected her to refuse.

It was what everyone did. After all, who would give their life for a couple of flowers? That was why she simply did not ask anymore, she took their life to prolong hers. It was how it had always been.

She didn't know why she had stopped short of killing Jenny; she didn't know why she gave her the choice, why she had even let her see the lunaflora.

But she had. And now, she was the one faced with a choice. Would she agree to Jenny's terms?

Would she save the enemy, if it meant she could save the flowers?

Anthea approached the blonde slowly, Jenny didn't move.

"You really are courageous, aren't you? You would really die for the Malmooth?"

"Yes"

"Then I agree. Give me your life and I swear by the Medusa Cascade, I will save them. Do you give it to me?"

"Yes"

"Then kneel"

Jenny knelt down in front of the girl, and Anthea cupped her face in her hands.

"Close your eyes… it'll be over soon"

* * *

Someone was singing, it was clear, and sad, and beautiful, and the melody seemed to ring through the whole forest, echoed by the trees.

It was eerie and wonderful, lonely and exultant, it was ancient…

And both Rocan and Koth stopped short when they heard it, wondering where it was coming from, it had taken them quite a while to find the trail again but they did, eventually, and they had followed it until they reached the edge of the forest.

"Chan, the trail ends here, tho"

"She must've gotten out already"

"Chan, the singing is coming from that direction, tho"

"Well, I'm not really sure Jenny can sing but… we should follow the sound"

And with that, the two stepped towards the edge of the forest.

"Chan, what's that light, tho?"

"I don't know, let's take a look"

Rocan and Koth scrambled to see what was happening, and both gasped at the sight of miles and miles of glowing, sunset-colored flowers. The singing had stopped.

"Chan, it's amazing, tho" whispered Koth, but found that his companion had disappeared. "Chan, Rocan, tho?"

"Jenny!" Koth turned to find Rocan wading hip-deep in shimmering flowers while he ran towards two more strange creatures. One of them was unconscious.

"Jenny!" shouted Rocan again, neither of the creatures moved, Koth ran after Rocan.

When the young Malmooth finally reached the Bocc, he found Rocan taking the unconscious creature in his arms; the other creature allowed him to.

"Jenny? Jenny? Wake up, Jenny. Oh Shathi, she doesn't have a pulse…" he muttered, Koth noticed the Bocc had tears in his eyes. "Jenny, please wake up, you can't die here, you can't, there's so much you still have to do, Jenny! Jenny…"

Rocan broke down into sobs while he held the Time lady's lifeless body, she couldn't be dead, this couldn't be happening.

Jenny couldn't be dead.

She just couldn't.

* * *

Anthea turned around and left when no one was looking, it wasn't that hard, considering the Bocc seemed so shaken at Jenny's death, and the young Malmooth with him seemed keen only on pacifying him.

Jenny had given her her life, now she must fulfill her end of the bargain.

Unseen by anyone, she returned to her true form, hair turned to leaves and vines and skin turned to bark, gossamer-like wings sprouted out her back and she grew until she was almost seven feet tall, she looked at the small ball of light she held in her hand.

Jenny's life force.

Slowly, she placed the ball over her chest, the vines there moved until what was left was an open space where another light pulsated weakly, she placed Jenny's light in there and the other light absorbed it.

Anthea felt strength returning to her limbs as Jenny's life-force took effect, this one, willingly given, would last her a long, long time.

"Goodbye Jenny, your sacrifice will not be in vain" she whispered.

With that, she turned and disappeared into the forest.

The sun had finally set, but Rocan had not moved an inch since he took Jenny's body, he was still cradling it, sobbing.

If only he had moved faster, if only he had been there, if only he hadn't let her go on her own.

If only he could've saved her.

It wasn't fair; this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Jenny wasn't supposed to die, not here, she was supposed to stop the Bocc, she was supposed to be the hero. But she was dead.

"You can't be dead, Jenny, this isn't how it's supposed to end" he sobbed.

Finally, Koth managed to convince him to let go of her body, and the Malmooth and the Bocc made her a coffin out of flowers, Jenny deserved better, but neither had the tools to give her a proper burial. Rocan had attempted to dig her a grave but Koth had stopped him after his hands started bleeding.

Both said their goodbye's to the Time lady and turned back to the forest.

"Chan, what now, tho?" asked Koth.

"Now, we save your species" replied Rocan determinedly.

They had only gone a few steps forward, however, when a bright light suddenly erupted behind them, both turned in surprise, only to find Jenny's body enveloped in light.

"What's going on?"

"Chan, I don't know, tho!"

The light disappeared and before their eyes, Jenny sat up, completely alive. But that wasn't what made both of them stop in their tracks and stare in awe at the Time lady.

As Jenny stood up, the flowers weaved into her hair and into her clothes reflected the light still glowing on her skin, making her shine with golden light.

"Chan, it's the sun, it's the shining sun, tho" whispered Koth, before falling down on his knees in worship.

"Jenny…" whispered Rocan. "You're –You're alive…"

"You're alive!" he shouted before tackling Jenny to the ground ecstatically, several glowing flowers fell from her hair. "You're alive!"

"Yeah… I am… Rocan…" grunted Jenny from underneath him, the Bocc laughed, helped her up, and hugged her again. Jenny let him but pulled away suddenly.

"Rocan! If I'm alive, what happened to Anthea?"

"Who?"

"Never mind, you have to come with me; we're going to save the Malmooth"

"Shathi, I thought you'd never ask"

Jenny smiled, "Neither did I"

* * *

And... that is Chapter 4, review please?


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